CLAN MACKINNON

It is not the intention to rewrite what is already widely available on the Internet regarding the history of the Mackinnon's as it would run into hundreds of pages. Therefore the following is no more than a snapshot.

Background
Tradition has it that the Mackinnon Clan, or Clan Fingon, is one of the true Celtic clans who claim descent from Kenneth MacAlpine, 1st King of United Scotland who was crowned in 843 A.D. Their first territory was on the Isle of Mull where they settled for some time around the ninth century. Early references relate them to the island abbacy of Iona, and the last Abbot was a John Mackinnon who died in 1550. 

Dunringill Castle on Skye, was reputed to have been occupied as early as the ninth century. Flight Lieutenant C. R. Mackinnon, in his description of the Western Isles, mentions: "The castill Dunringill perteining to the said Mackynoun." Dunringill must have been in a fairly good state of preservation then - today it's just another mass of rubble~ 

About the 14th or 15th century, the Mackinnon's acquired more lands in the Isle of Skye - the district of Strathairdale, which is 26 miles long, by 6 miles wide, including Broadford and together with the island of Scalpay. This was acquired either by intermarriage with the MacLeod's of Dunvegan, or was given to them by the Lord of the Isles "for to judge and decide all questions and debates that happen to fall between parties through playing at cards of dice) or sic other practice" - which was perhaps related to Mackinnon's particular office, as one of the barons in the Council of the Isles under McDonald rule, of being in hereditary charge of all weights and measures in the Hebrides~ 

Numerically the Mackinnon's were always a small clan, and it is something of a mystery how they survived for so long, situated as they were between the two much larger clans of Macdonald and MacLeod which divided the island between them. They apparently had the unfortunate nickname of "two-faced" but this was probably of necessity! 

They must have been very tactful and resourceful to remain in possession of their own lands through the centuries. They married both Macdonald's and MacLeod's and were of service to both clans, yet always retained their independence.
 
Little is heard of them in stories, yet they played a significant part in hiding Prince Charles when the hunt was closing in. The family were staunch Jacobites, and the delightful toast "To the little gentlemen in black velvet," must often have been drunk. 

The early Mackinnon's had a reputation for great strength
Indeed it has been suggested that this clan descended on the distaff side from the Fienne giants. There is a story of a huge stone, called the Knee Stone, which was eight feet long and two feet six inches wide, which some men wished to use as a bridge across a small burn, but, having built the supports for it, they could not lift the stone onto them. A Mackinnon who was passing by, inquired what the trouble was, and on being told, lifted the stone single-handed "though with an effort," into position, and then supported one end on his knee, while masons fixed the other. 

The Mackinnon crest is an unusual one. It is a boar's head, which is common enough in the Highlands, but with the shank bone of a deer in its mouth. The story of this crest is that in the fourteenth century The Mackinnon was hunting on the shores of Loch Scavaig in Skye. He became separated from his hunting party and sheltered for the night in a cave, where he kindled a fire to broil some venison. A wild boar entered the cave and attacked him just as he was slicing some meat from a haunch. With presence of mind, he thrust the bone into the jaws of the beast, jamming them open, and then killed it with his knife.

Life on Skye
Life, though simple, was probably very satisfying. Recreation in Skye (say three centuries ago) you may think was limited, but the art of music was widely cultivated, and what with piping, harping, singing, telling stories, enunciating proverbs, putting the stone, wrestling, leaping, hunting, playing backgammon and dice, there was hardly a dull moment. 

Song was once a natural accompaniment to work. There were different songs for different occasions - songs to row by, songs to spread muck by, songs for the grinding of corn, etc. etc. 

Diet was simple and wholesome - barley, oatmeal, milk, butter, cheese, salt beef, fish, and mutton. And, of course, the traditional whisky! "A man of the Hebrides," noted Johnson-when he was in Skye, " as soon as he appears in the morning, swallows a glass of whisky; yet they are not a drunken race, at least I was never present at much intemperance; but no man is so abstemious as to refuse the morning dram." Housing was also very simple, though not perhaps so wholesome, with thatched roofs, no chimney, but a peat fire in the middle of the room. 

Handfasting, or contracting what was known as a "left-handed marriage", was once very common in Skye. As Martin Martin recorded: "It was an ancient custom in the Isles that a man take a maid to his wife, and keep her for the space of a year without marrying her: and if she pleased him all the while, he married her at the end of the year, and legitimised her children; but if he did not love her, he returned her to her parents." This custom was convenient for a man, but hardly satisfactory for the woman. 

Procrastination is a characteristic for which the Skyeman perhaps more than the Skywoman is often accused, and the following old saying would seem to bear this out: 

Oh that the peats would cut themselves 
And the fish swim in to the shore, 
And I might lie on my back in the sun 
And sleep for evermore. 

Events
The 28th Chief Lachlan Mackinnon was knighted by Charles II in the field at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, when Cromwell defeated the King. The Mackinnon's continued to be loyal to the Stewarts and were "out" in 1715 and again in 1745. After Culloden the Chief was imprisoned by the English but released due to advanced age and ill health. The ancient possessions of the clan were numerous comprising of lands in Mull, Skye and Arran but following Culloden, Charles the last chief of Mackinnon's lost the valley of Strathardle which was confiscated by the English for their part in attempting to reclaim the throne for the rightful heir, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and had to sell the rest of the land in 1791. He died in poverty in 1808.
 
Drambuie - Scotland's whisky liqueur & the personal drink of Bonnie Prince Charlie
For their loyal support, and enabling him to escape the English by hiding him on the Isle of Skye, Bonnie Prince Charlie  rewarded Captain John Mackinnon, by giving him the secret recipe for Drambuie. The Mackinnon family kept the drink to themselves until they decided, in 1906, to manufacture it commercially. The precise method of making the liqueur remains a family secret, but the ingredients are a blend of Scotch whiskies together with honey and a herbal extract. The name derives from the Gaelic an dram buidheach, meaning 'the drink which pleases'.
 

Spelling of the Mackinnon name
There are three spellings - Mackinnon, MacKinnon & McKinnon, and this seems to follow in most branches of Scottish families. This discrepancy was mainly brought about either by illiterate people having to tell a clerk their name and relying on his spelling of it, or Gaelic speakers having their name written by an English clerk. On looking at some of the old birth and death certificates and seeing the writing of our ancestors, it is amazing that the spelling of our surname has managed to retain the original spelling "Mackinnon". In all authoritative books on Scotland, the name is always spelt Mackinnon, and McKinnon & MacKinnon is considered incorrect.

Honoraria
MACKINNON Was 
• Blessed by Charles Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), Prince Regent 
• Honoured by Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor of France. 
• Remembered affectionately by Samuel Johnson, a great Englishman. 
• If you bear it, carry it through life like an ensign, for it is ancient and respected. Let not its honour be diminished while it is in your keeping.

Cuimhnich bas Ailpein (Remember the Death of Alpin)